A
friend and I were chatting online, and I was sharing that my husband
had come back from a weekend trip. She said she hadn't known he was
out of town. That was exactly what I wanted. Most, if not all
computers these days come with virus software that supposedly keeps
your computers free from online attacks. But what if all the viruses
and firewalls can't stop YOU from revealing too much online? Have you
considered what is safe and what is not safe to reveal when you're
surfing online? I heard a few radio shows, and read some articles
online, and I've compiled a few things that I personally keep in mind
when I'm surfing the net.
Why wouldn't I share everything online, especially on social network
sites where I set my security levels and whatnot? It's because I've
worked in the I.T. field, and I know that computer programs are
fallible. Remember when Facebook had revealed that their security was
less than up to par? So how do you know WHO is reading your profile,
your wall posts, your comments, looking at your photos, etc.? You don't
know. And that's how you should act online. If at any time your info is
read by John Doe in XYZ City, you should feel safe that you haven't
revealed enough that he could some how find your home, find your
friends, your friends kids names, your phone number, etc.
Some things you shouldn't post online on your profile:
* Your entire birth date (including year, etc.) - someone could
figure out passwords, bank acct info (though where there's a will,
there's a way)
* The city you live in (with Google Maps showing street maps and
all, depending on if they're familiar with the area, they could
probably figure out how to get to your house)
* Exact location of your work (You don't want John Doe who thinks you're hot to come visit you after work, do you?)
* Your kids' names (If John Doe comes to visit your house, you want
them to come to the door and say, "Hi Jeanie, is your mommy home?")
* Your kids' birth dates
* Where your kids go to school (Another way a child predator could find your kids.)
Those are the obvious, but let's consider some other precautions we should take:
* Do not post, "I'm about to leave the house" or "I'm leaving from
this date to this date on a wonderful vacation far away." Leave all the
vacation details for when you come back.
* Don't post your kids name in status updates, comments, photos, or
let others tag your child's name on a photo. If they do, you can delete
that or ask your friend to tag the photo with your own name instead.
You can use some of these online acronyms instead: DH = Dear Husband,
DD = Dear Daughter, DS = Dear Son, MIL/FIL = Mother In Law, Father In
Law, BF = Best Friend or Boy Friend (depending on context), BFF = Best
Female Friend, etc.
* Consider who you're befriending online. It's really easy to
pretend to be someone they're not. So Jane Doe might really be John Doe
in hiding. Friend one day, Foe the next? It's possible. It's really
okay to ignore friend requests.
* Do not let your children use Facebook or other social networking sites unsupervised ever.
Facebook ads target you based on your interests, profile, posts,
etc. so you might end up with your little one seeing a provocative ad
that they're too young to view. Also profile pics of friends of friends
do show up for you to add as your friend.
Now, we had this instance of a friend of a friend who was dressed in
a string bikini laying on the pool floor provocatively that was
suggested to my husband to befriend. Well, he lets my 5yo daughter play
Farmville. I'm just glad she wasn't there. You can't control what kind
of friend your friend has.
Now all these suggestions are for you and your family's safety, but
of course you can hide in a corner and never talk to anyone online. I
don't think that's an ideal situation either. Just make sure to take
some precautions, and enjoy connecting with your friends and family.
They already know who your family members are so if you say your son
did whatever, they know what his name is. Other casual friends really
don't need to know every single detail.
If you have any other suggestions that might not have been mentioned, please comment below.
Written By: Michelle S.
Owner of: www.3treedesign.com | www.greenthumbfabrics.com | www.uhboohbahbaby.com
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